A case has been documented in New York City of a woman in her 20s who returned from a country where the Zika virus is spreading.
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About 20 percent of infected people show symptoms, most recovering within several days from fever, joint pain or other mild ailments. But Zika can cause serious birth defects when pregnant women get infected.
The woman developed fever, fatigue, a rash and body aches the next day, and sought treatment. On day three, she visited her primary care doctor, who took blood and urine samples, and sent them off to the NYC health department.
The CDC is recommending that all people who have traveled to an area where Zika virus is prevalent use protection every time they have sex. Her doctor ordered a Zika test of her blood and urine. Those both tested positive for Zika. Further analysis of the congenital effects of Zika have also proved that the virus may cause neurological impairments that may not be detectable through microcephaly testing. Researchers know that men spread Zika carried in their semen during vaginal, anal and oral sex. Up until now, the only likely route of sexual transmission found was male-to-female or male-to-male. This is the first reported case of a woman giving the virus to a man.
All previously reported cases of Zika being sexually transmitted have been spread by men.
Brooks said, though, that if transmission can occur through kissing, you would expect the number of cases of transmission from men to their partners and women to their partners to be more or less equal.
“Even though no immediate threat to county residents exists, I would like to remind county residents to protect themselves and family members from mosquito bites, especially if traveling to Zika-affected countries”, Dr. Maxwell Ohikhuare, county health officer, said in a statement.
The CDC has reported 15 cases of sexual transmission of Zika in the United States, as well as 1,130 total Zika diagnoses- 320 of them among pregnant women.
Research into the exact risks posed by maternal Zika infection is ongoing, according to health officials.
Up until this point, the CDC thought that sexual transmission of Zika was only possible from male-to-female and male-to-male.
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In recent months, health officials have increasingly warned about the dangers of sexual transmission of the virus. Now, in light of the New York City case, that prevention message becomes more broad.
